Un artículo publicado en inglés y español, que te ayudará en tu lectura, pero principalmente sirve para expresar una opinión.

An article in English and Spanish which will help you in your reading, but mainly serves to express an opinion.

DO THEY SAY THAT IN EUROPE?

¿Se Dice Eso en Europa?

English may be an international language but it’s not that universal.

In English classes in South America I sometimes hear the question raised about an English phrase or saying, ‘Do they say that in Europe?’ The first time I heard the question I was surprised: does who say that in Europe?

As the saying goes, your point of view depends on where you stand. This question reflects the Latin American idea that English is spoken in the north and in Europe.

A FALLACY ABOUT EUROPE

Although Europe includes countries other than Britain where English is the primary language, these countries are, of course, only parts of Europe. So the answer is, no – they don’t say that in Europe because, in general, they don’t speak English in Europe.

The fact is that there are very few countries in Europe where English is the main language or even one of the official languages. Going from west to east we have the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands.

FROM IRELAND TO CYPRUS

In the Mediterranean Sea are Malta and Cyprus, where English can be as strong as the native languages, Maltese and Greek respectively. Gibraltar isn’t a country but it is an English-speaking territory. And it should be noted that Cyprus is often listed as being in Asia and not Europe.

But in general, people in the rest of Europe don’t speak any more English than the average student of English as a second language anywhere in the world.

I think it’s important to make this point to my students in South America because I don’t want them to think that there are millions of people wandering about Europe speaking English fluently and without effort. That idea would surely demoralize any student of English.

EUROPEANS HAVE TO STUDY TOO

In my opinion – and it’s only an opinion – the percentage of people in Latin America and Europe who speak English is about the same. They can be identified as those who study English or belong to a bilingual family.

In Europe, I believe that Germany, Holland and Belgium produce more, and better, speakers possibly because of their educational system and also because these guys love to speak English. In Latin America I think Mexico would be in the lead because of its proximity to the USA. Puerto Rico, of course, is virtually bilingual, being a US territory.

The truth is that although European countries are small and are relatively near each other, their various languages don’t pass into neighboring countries very much. Of course there is usually a good mixture around borders and some exceptions like the Italian Dolomite area where German is generally spoken but there aren’t many cases like that.

NEARLY ALL ISLANDS

It is curious to note that with the exception of Gibraltar, every English-speaking place in Europe is an island.

Accordingly, students of English in other non-English speaking countries, whether in the west or the east, should not think that Europeans have any built-in advantage in learning English.

As my old school motto says, ‘Nil sine labore’ – nothing without work!